. . . in Santa Clara (Valley Fair Mall), CA
Got there at 6:45AM to wait for my mini. There was one other person there already (got there at 6:30), waiting for an ipod shuffle. By 7:15, three others had arrived, all waiting for shuffles.
We queued at the entrance, and the line extended far past the Gap store (for those who know the mall) - maybe a 100-150 total by 9AM when the store opened.
Lots of apple employees wandering around starting around 8am, including a person who described herself as the "general manager". We asked several times about the status of inventory (i.e. "do you have minis?" "how many do you have" "do you have shuffles?", etc). I don't remember specifically if folks asked for confirmation that shuffles were in stock - I asked about minis and they said "yes, they have some".
One very cool thing that happened is that a guy named Brett from Apple stopped by while we were waiting in line who was apparently a lead engineer or engineering manager on the mini project. He said he just wanted to gauge customer reaction. He was carrying a mini, and he popped it open to show us the insides.
He actually disassembled it right in front of us, standing up (i.e. not on a table or anything), with one small phillips screwdriver. Looked like it was < 5 screws total to remove the top HDD assy (disconnect the cables for airport / BT antennas), remove the mobo, and remove the airport/BT module. Interesting, he used NO TOOLS to pop off the cover. He just sort of held his fingers on the side, and lifted up on the back plastic part, and it popped open. I asked him if "putty knives" were really the best way to open it, and he said something like "yes, that probably works about the best the first time", but he noted that once you've opened it once or twice, the clips loossen enough that you can pop the cover without any tool.
He told me that the "sweet spot" in his opinion is the 1.42/80G with 512. He said he was surprised to find that 256MB is quite adequate for performance overall, and he recommended I just try the 256 for a bit before I do anything (a reasonable recommendation, given that my wife is basically going surf the web and do email).
He also mentioned what a great team they had working on the mini - he went to some lengths (particularly after I asked if I could take a pic of him with my cellphone) to make sure he doesn't stand out as getting undue credit when it was a team effort. He seemed very proud of how productive and effective their engineering team was.
Finally, the store opened. I walked up to the counter, and said "I'll take a mini 1.42 and a 512 shuffle", and to my great surprise the clerk told me that THEY DIDN'T HAVE ANY SHUFFLES! They did, of course, have minis, so I got what I really came for. But the person who had been there since 6:30, and the others since 7, were LIVID that they couldn't get their shuffles! I left not long after getting my mini, but I suspect a good 50% of the folks in line expected to get shuffles also, and I'm sure there was going to be a lot of negative emotion! I would have been SO disappointed if I had come for a shuffle, asked several times if they had stock (I think they asked) and gotten a vague non-answer, only to find that they didn't have any for sale.
So, I got my mini. Can't wait to open it up.
I took a few pics with my cellphone, but I don't know how to post them.
Take Care,
Eric
